Who Will I Be?
by marshmallowfairies
Summary: When the pressure gets too much for the Hyuuga heiress, what will she do? Who will she be? Originally was just gonna be a one shot but turned out much longer than I thought it would. I do not own the characters or jutsus, just the plot of this story.
1. Chapter 1

_They each sat with a plate of untouched dumplings in front of them. Hinata thought it was silly that they always arranged to meet for lunch and then not eat in front of each other because they wanted to prove that they were doing everything that they could to stay in shape. The silence after her last revelation was becoming unbearably awkward now. She reached towards the dumplings but ended up placing her hand on the table next to the plate instead._

"_I would run," Ino said abruptly, breaking the silence._

"_Wha-," Hinata began, startled by her friend's response but Sakura interrupted, sounding annoyed._

"_Ino! Hinata's confided in us because she expects our support- not stupid comments like that!" Sakura raged, looking like she might hit Ino but fortunately, Ino was out of her reach and Tenten wouldn't move out of the way to allow two of her friends to fight._

"_I know!" Ino defended herself quickly, holding her hands up then dropping them slightly as though she was shrugging. "It's just that leading a clan at seventeen- that's huge! I know that there's no way I'm ready for that kind of responsibility." She glanced over at her friend, hoping that she hadn't offended her._

"_Well, of course it is but Hinata's been preparing for this her whole life and..." Sakura's argument didn't have much backbone and her sentence dwindled into nothing, making her feel less certain._

"_And you have to marry?" Tenten chipped in, breaking her silence. "They've just told you to marry? Anyone?"_

_Hinata sighed and directed her response at her dumplings. "I've been told to marry someone suitable. Therefore, I may choose someone but the council must approve of my choice." She thought glumly of how they would never approve of someone like Naruto who had no clan, so to speak, and was a Jinchuriki. Her love of so long could never be hers and she would probably be forced to marry some clan council member. The thought made her shudder._

"_I couldn't do it," Ino murmured. "I just couldn't do it." And this time, neither Sakura nor Tenten berated her because they were both thinking the same thing- neither could they._


	2. Chapter 2

Hinata screwed her eyes up against the warmth and light on her face before unwillingly opening them. The morning sun shone through the cracks in the roof of the cave that she had spent the night in, and she was grateful that it was not raining, thinking of what a horrible wake up that would have been. She sat up, taking in her surroundings- the remnants of last night's fire, her pack lying near her and the walls of the cave, with more light pooling in from the cave's entrance. The sight was all too familiar- Hinata had spent almost every night like this for the last... she didn't know how long. She had lost track of time within a few months of abandoning the village, or more accurately, her clan. She had also lost count of the number of times that that memory haunted her dreams and she was beginning to consider it some kind of omen. oHinata made her way over to her bag and lifted out the ANBU mask she used to hide her face. The ANBU mask that was not hers...

_The pressure to select a husband was mounting. Every night, Hiashi requested Hinata's presence in his office and asked her if she had selected someone to marry yet and every night the image of Naruto's face flitted briefly through her mind before she told her Father that she had not. He would remind her of the limited time she had left before the choice would be taken out of her hands. Every night, she bowed and thanked her Father before taking her leave. On this night however, her Father stopped her._

"_Neji joined ANBU today. I suggest that you congratulate him before he is allocated a mission."_

_Hinata turned. Her Father had not looked up from his work as he spoke but out of respect, she bowed her head, replying, "Yes, I will."_

_Straight after leaving her Father' study, Hinata made her way to Neji's room. She hesitated for a moment before knocking. "Come in," he called and Hinata let herself in._

_Neji stood next to his bed with an ANBU mask held in his hand, as though he had just taken it off his face. "Hinata-sama," he said, bowing as he saw who it was._

"_Neji-niisan," she replied with a bow and then straightening, revealed a brilliant smile. "I just came by to congratulate you on getting into ANBU. My Father just told me."_

"_Ah, thank you," he answered, transferring his gaze back to the mask. "It's meant to be a hawk," he commented holding it towards her and she stepped forward, taking it from his outstretched hand. "Ironic, don't you think?" he pressed, making Hinata feel uncomfortable. She examined the mask in silence and heard Neji sigh when she offered no response._

"_I heard you're taking over the clan soon," he offered. She neither confirmed nor denied this, irritating him though his face did not show it. Ordiniarily, he'd be happy with the silence between them- it suited them both but if she was to become the head of the clan, she would be pre-occupied with clan duties and he was going to be deployed on ANBU missions for most of the foreseeable future and so this could be the last time they would speak for a long time. "But you've to marry first?" he pressed._

_Hinata stiffened but didn't take her eyes from the mask. She wondered... Neji? Surely the council would accept Neji? Of course they didn't love each other but he would be away on missions a lot so it wouldn't be too much of an inconvenience to him... But then she reminded herself how inconsiderate it would be of her- taking away even more of his freedom and choices. She sighed. "Yes, but if I haven't made my choice by the end of this month, the council will choose for me." Hinata put the mask on her face at that moment so she did not notice Neji fisting his hands by his side, angry for his younger cousin's fate. She was too pre-occupied with the fact that behind this mask, she could be anyone she wanted to be- she didn't have to be Hinata Hyuuga._

"_It suits you," Neji's voice broke through her reverie and she looked up at him, grateful to the mask for covering her blush. Once she was sure her blush had faded, she removed the mask and asked Neji to have tea with her, to which he agreed._

_They talked in the kitchen for an hour or so before heading to their separate rooms. Hinata began to pack a bag with all the sorts of things she would need for a mission. She wrote a quick note and made her way to Neji's room lifting the ANBU mask and replacing it with the note. She bowed in the direction of Neji's sleeping form, only mildly regretting adding the special powder she had made to induce sleep to his cup of tea._

_Getting past the guards had been easy because it was not uncommon for Hinata to go out training in the middle of the night and once outwith the range of the Byakugan, she had broken into a run for the village gate and never looked back. What happened the next morning was completely left to her own imagination..._

Hinata found a tear crawling down her face at the memory and she wiped it away fiercely putting the mask on and preparing for a new day.


	3. Chapter 3

Hinata stood in a clearing in the forest with her Byakugan activated. She had already scanned most of the area around her on foot looking for any edible food and now resorted to using her bloodline limit. She usually avoided using it in order to preserve chakra but she needed food- it had been a while since she had last eaten. Despite being considered a missing nin, Hinata had maintained her morals and refused to steal. She made and sold medicines and healing ointments for money and only spent it when she had no other choice, otherwise eating fruit and fish that could be found with relative ease. This was another aspect of her lifestyle that she disliked though it could not be helped. Also, with the status of missing nin, Hinata would often find that she had ninja on her tail and though preferring to avoid conflicts, she sometimes found herself forced to fight though fortunately, her skills had improved greatly since she had left Konoha and she had managed to remain at large. Cloud ninja had proved the most persistent of pursuers and she didn't hold back when faced with them. She may have turned her back on Hyuuga but she would not betray their secrets- she owed them that much for the protection they gave her for the first seventeen years of her life...

She was distracted from her thoughts by two chakra presences heading in her direction. She remained still, imagining they would just pass her by but they stopped not far from her in a crouched position. She watched as one performed a hand seal and chakra entered a shadow on the ground and began to snake its way towards her. Hinata waited until it was just a centimetre away and launched herself up onto a branch and began to run through the trees though they gave chase. Weapons rained through the air and Hinata spun, releasing chakra from all the tenketsu in her body to provide and impenetrable defense.

"A kaiten? It can't be-" she heard a voice shout from behind her but she did not hesitate, noticing two more chakra bodies coming in from behind the other two at a faster speed. They must have sensed her long before she noticed them and formulated a plan in order to take her by surprise though she couldn't dwell on that. She had to focus on increasing the distance so she wouldn't have to fight but the two that had joined the chase were much too fast for her.

A bark echoed from behind and a voice responded "Yeah, I think so too, boy." The voice sounded familiar and she hoped she was wrong but unfortunately was proved right only moments later when the voice shouted, "Akamaru, dynamic marking!" Hinata felt herself showered with a substance that she knew was Akamaru's saliva but she smirked, performing some hand seals and a kaiten at the same time, surrounding herself in a whirlpool of water. She was pleased with her quick-thinking- washing off the dynamic marking would make it harder for them to track her.

Hinata stopped spinning and leapt forward but felt something fly into her front, pushing her against a branch, flat on her back with someone lying on top of her. "That was clever," a voice whispered in her ear. "Washing off the dynamic marking with a water jutsu. You've improved. Unfortunately for you, I know your scent just as well as that of dynamic marking." With that, the ANBU mask was lifted from her face and she was confronted with the face of her former teammate, Kiba Inazuka.


	4. Chapter 4

Being pinned down as she was, it was difficult for Hinata to take in her friend's appearance. Using one hand to hold the mask that he had removed and the other to hold both of her wrists above her head, he used his body weight to hold her down, covering her legs with his own. She smiled weakly, "Thanks. You've improved too, Kiba-kun."

One side of his mouth turned upwards in a smirk. "Ha. Seems your stutter's gone. When did you lose that?" Kiba remarked. Hinata was surprised and embarrassed by the comment, having not realised that she had lost her stutter before. Heat spread through her face and she inwardly cursed that she didn't have her mask on. "Still got the blush though," he added, a hint of fondness in his voice. Hearing a bark, Hinata tilted her head backwards slightly and Akamaru began licking her hands and she smiled at the display of affection.

"So we found a missing nin, huh? What a drag..." a bored voice that Hinata recognized as Shikamaru's voice drawled and she smiled at the familiarity. "At least it was after we'd completed the mission- makes it easier to take her home."

Hinata's eyes widened. Go home? She hadn't thought of that. She would have to escape. She didn't want to return- she couldn't, not after what she had done. She sighed, already regretting what she was about to do. She focussed chakra to every tenketsu but before she could release it, another voice yelled, "Kiba, Akamaru, get away from her!" and without needing to be told twice, both jumped away, to see Hinata surrounded by a blue haze of chakra. She sat up and swung herself around to face her cousin. She smiled brightly at him, as she said, "That would have worked if it had been anyone but you."

"Hinata-sama," Neji's calm tone was restored as he addressed her and his face remained stoic, as she remembered it. She smiled but shook her head.

"I am no longer a main house Hyuuga. There is no need to address me in that way," she corrected him though not mentioning his name through her uncertainty. After making such a statement, she had no right to call him niisan yet she still felt as though he were like a brother to her, despite their years apart. She couldn't fathom the slight change in his expression at her words though.


	5. Chapter 5

Hinata had changed. Neji acknowledged that. He was, in fact, surprised by the extent of her change. Her last words had saddened him. He'd always had faith that she would return when she was stronger, both physically and emotionally, to lead the Hyuuga clan and change it for the better though all of her words and actions so far seemed to suggest that she had no such intentions. He thought back to when he first realised what she'd done...

_His eyelids were heavy and it took some effort for Neji to open his eyes. When he eventually did, he realised he had slept in and began to hurry to get ready. It was so unlike him- he was usually a very light sleeper and always woke before or at sunrise. And on his first day as an ANBU as well. Once he was ready, Neji went to collect his mask only to find, in its place, a note._

_**Neji-niisan,**_

_** I must apologise to you for many things. Firstly, for being weak and for being the heir. You are so strong and you deserve the title far more than I do. Secondly, I am sorry that your Father died because of me. That should not have happened and I'm sure that all of Hyuuga regret that my Father apprehended the attacker that night. The clan would have been better off without my hindrance. Lastly, I apologise for stealing your ANBU mask and sedating you in order to do so. I could think of no other way to escape. I hope that by the time you read this, I will have successfully removed myself from Hyuuga.**_

_**Yours, Hinata.**_

_**P.S. Pass on my apologies to Hanabi for leaving her with such a burden. I'm sure when she's old enough, she will find that she is far more suited to leading our clan than I ever was.**_

_Neji had to read the letter several times before he could believe its content to be true but he knew Hinata's handwriting well and the letter was unmistakably in her hand. He ran straight to his Uncle's study with the letter clutched, and now slightly crumpled, in his hand. Hiashi looked surprised by his nephew's appearance._

"_Neji? Shouldn't you be meeting Tsunade-sama just now?"_

"_Hinata-sama," Neji gasped, holding out the letter, "Hinata-sama," another gasp for air, "Hinata-sama has run away."_

"_What?" Hiashi looked angry but Neji detected a hint of panic in his voice as the letter was snatched unceremoniously from his hand. Hiashi activated his Byakugan while reading the letter and Neji briefly wondered if he should have thought to do the same. But deactivating it, Hiashi shook his head, looking saddened. "Neji, please report to Hokage-sama. Show her the letter and tell her what passed between you two last night. A search squad must be sent after her."_

_Neji was puzzled as to why his conversation with Hinata the previous evening was relevant. He couldn't really remember the end of the conversation anyway... "Do you suspect that something I said may have-," Neji began, somewhat offended._

"_It's a possibility Neji though I don't blame _you. _The clan has put a lot of pressure on Hinata recently. There are many possible reasons that may have lead her to... defect." The last word was said with some distaste, which did not go unnoticed by Neji. "I will leave it to you to speak to her friends as well. I gather you are in the same group of friends?" Though it was a question, Hiashi did not wait for a response. "I will notify the clan elders and speak with the Hokage myself later on." With that, Hiashi left his office, leaving Neji alone, trying to fathom what had driven Hinata to leave._

Neji was now pondering that once more, though the girl concerned was sitting looking at him with a tired smile on her face. She was thinner- taller as well but more strikingly thinner and Neji wondered if her last proper meal had been on that night. Her hair, which had been long when she had left, was slightly longer but straggly and uneven as though she had cut it herself with a kunai. Her attire had changed as well. She still sported a mesh top but now only wore a black crop top over that as opposed to a jacket like she used to. She wore several belts on her waist and hips to keep weapons and black Capri pants with weapons pouches attached to the legs. She carried a pack on her lower back and her arms and legs were bandaged in the same way his used to be. Despite the changes, the kindness in her face and eyes was unmistakable. This was Hinata.

"We're taking you home, Hinata-sama," Neji insisted on the suffix and he stepped forward, surprised when Hinata shrank away from him.


	6. Chapter 6

"We're taking you home, Hinata-sama," Neji insisted on the suffix and stepped towards her so she pushed herself back slightly and shook her head.

"I can't go back," her words were just a whimper. "I'll never be accepted. I'm a missing nin!"

"Oh, so you do understand that," Shikamaru spoke up unexpectedly. "We thought you were probably naive of that status."

Hinata looked at Shikamaru for a moment before answering. "I didn't think of myself that way for a long time. I just thought I was escaping Hyuuga." Neji's expression darkened noticeably so Hinata hurried on, "It wasn't until ninja started challenging me, chasing me, that I really thought about it like that." Her contemplative expression was replaced by a sad one. "I'll never be accepted," she repeated.

"Team Eight will accept you," Kiba shouted and Akamaru barked loudly in agreement. Hot tears prickled at Hinata's eyes as she imagined training with her team again- Kiba, Akamaru, Shino and Kurenai-sensei, if they still did train together, that is. She realised just how much she missed that for the first time in...

"How long have I been missing?" Hinata asked in a whisper, a small frown furrowing her brow.

"Almost two years," Kiba answered, sounding slightly choked. "You'll be nineteen in a few months."

There was silence for a few minutes as Hinata processed this information. "Then," she finally spoke, "Hanabi-chan is-,"

"Hanabi-sama is fourteen years old and is still not yet old enough to rule the clan," Neji interrupted, confirming Hinata's unvoiced theory. Hinata turned to face him again as, without question, he began to explain how the Hyuuga clan had dealt with their heiress' disappearance.

"There was no question," he began dramatically and Shikamaru sighed boredly, sitting down. Hinata followed suit. "...that you had chosen to leave of your own accord because of the note you left. There was nothing at all to suggest you had been abducted, though of couse, the possibility was considered. An ANBU team was sent to find you but after about a month, they returned without you, insisting they could not find even a trace of you. You did well in covering your tracks," he remarked, with a nod of acknowledgment. Hinata blushed again and she heard Kiba laughing as she did so but ignored him.

"The council decided that no changes would be made for a year, believing they were partially to blame for putting too much pressure on you," Neji continued, and Hinata was surprised that the council would display such... compassion? "After a year, they met once again and could not come to an agreement and so they voted on who should be heir, you or Hanabi-sama." Hinata did not notice the sharp breath she drew in, in her anticipation though it did not go unnoticed by the others.

"The decision based on the vote was that you would continue to be considered the heiress. However, if you did not return by the time that Hanabi-sama turned sixteen, the title would be passed on to her. Therefore, you are still the heiress of the clan." Neji finished, looking intently at Hinata, trying to gauge her thoughts.

Hinata stared at the bark beneath her, her mind in a whirl. To say that she was shocked by the council's decision was an understatement. She had always been sure that they preferred Hanabi as the future leader for a long time. She was brought out of her reverie by Shikamaru.

"Ino blames herself, you know," he blurted out randomly and Hinata's head snapped up.

"Wha-? Ino-san?" she replied softly.

Shikamaru nodded. "Yeah, she said she told you she would run and then you did just that. She can't believe she put the idea in your head. It's haunted her since."

Shikamaru's words were said so casually yet they left Hinata feeling overwhelmed with guilt. She desperately wanted to ensure her friend that it was not her fault, which she could only do by returning to the village but then she thought of her sister. "But Hanabi-chan... Hanabi-chan's trained so hard! I couldn't take-,"

"Hanabi-sama does not want to lead Hyuuga," Neji interrupted again and Hinata was slightly frustrated that he wouldn't let her finish a sentence so it took a second for his words to sink in. When they did, her eyes widened and Neji went on, "Though she is, or at least was, physically stronger, she does not have the temperament or the determination to make the changes that are necessary within the clan. She accepts that and so do the council. That is why you are preferred as heir."

Hinata could not hide her surprise and it only increased when Shikamaru said, "You've been missed, Hinata. We would welcome you back," one of his lazy smiles on his face. Of the team present, she had the least interactions and relationship with Shikamaru therefore the words seemed to hold a lot more meaning coming from him.

She sighed and reached into her pack. Each boy tensed, bracing themselves against an attack. Hinata pulled out her Konoha headband and tied in its place around her neck. She looked up, smiling at them as she said, "I think it's time I come home."


End file.
